The epidemiology of Giardia intestinalis assemblages A and B among Egyptian children with diarrhea: A PCR-RFLP-based approachNora L El-Tantawy, Amira I TamanJuly-December 2014, 7(2):104-109DOI:10.4103/1687-7942.149557

Background
The protozoan parasite Giardia intestinalis is a common childhood infection in developing countries that causes diarrheal illness. The majority of G. intestinalis isolates from humans are grouped into two distinct genetic assemblages A and B. The molecular epidemiological studies on G. intestinalis assemblages in humans are limited in Egypt.
Objective
This study was conducted to estimate the detection rate of G. intestinalis infection among a cohort of children suffering from diarrhea in the Dakahalia governorate, Egypt, and to correlate between clinical giardiasis and Giardia spp. assemblages in positive stool samples by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).
Participants and methods
A total of 311 diarrheal stool samples were examined microscopically for Giardia spp. infection. DNA samples were isolated from the stools of 103 (33.12%) positive samples with G. intestinalis, amplified with PCR, and digested with the XhoI enzyme for RFLP.
Results
Of the 103 samples, 64 (62.14%) were found to be assemblage B, whereas 32 samples (31.07%) belonged to assemblage A. Mixed genotype A and B was present in three samples (2.91%), and four samples (3.88%) were of undetermined Giardia spp. assemblage. The detection rate of assemblage B was higher in samples from children with persistent diarrhea, whereas assemblage A detection rate was higher in samples from acute diarrhea.
ConclusionG. intestinalis causing diarrhea in children in the Dakahalia governorate, Egypt, predominantly belongs to assemblage B, indicating that human-to-human method of infection is more common than zoonotic method.

Travels and tourism are drivers for trichinellosisJean Dupouy-CametJuly-December 2014, 7(2):86-92DOI:10.4103/1687-7942.149555

Background
Acquiring trichinellosis while traveling abroad is not a new phenomenon and imported cases are regularly reported worldwide. Cases contracted abroad and reported by the French National Reference Centre for Trichinella (NRCT) are analyzed here.
Results
Since 1998, 28 imported cases, representing 37% of all cases, were reported to the NRCT, with a mean annual incidence of two cases. Between 1975 and 1998, 40 imported cases represented only 1.5% of all identified cases, but with a comparable mean annual incidence of 1.6 cases. The incidence of imported cases could even have decreased since 1998 as the number of international travelers increased during that period. Since 1998, most cases were acquired in Canada from bear meat (hunters). Some cases were acquired in West Africa from warthog meat, in Laos from pork, and one case, in Algeria, was because of the consumption of jackal meat.
Discussion
These imported cases are most likely to occur in countries where the habit of eating raw meat is common and may show a high transmission in some regions where the disease is or had become unknown (e.g. Senegal, Laos, etc.). Backpackers, adventure travelers, or hunters will certainly be at a higher risk and should be informed about the risks of eating raw meat (pork, game, or reptile meat) and should be discouraged from illegally importing potentially infected meat that could introduce the parasite in Trichinella-free areas.
Conclusion
Travelers can be good indicators of the emergence of the parasitosis in a given country. Imported cases are good indicators of the epidemiology of the disease in countries where the original infection occurred.